I've been on several Boeing 737-700 800 and 900 with very few people onboard in the last 5 flights 26, 40, 25 15 20 and 22 hardly any passenger count at all. I have noticed the rapid accent rate of these aircraft and the short time taxi times... been interesting flying lately as well as very different characteristics also less power to keep in flight
Do they rotate pilots around whom do these ferry flights these days in order to try to keep pilots fresh like yourself whom have otherwise been grounded, or how does that work?
Inadvertent slide deployment after chocks on, wasn’t such an unusual occurrence when I was cabin crew. Aside from the obvious danger to anyone outside the doors, it also caused the a/c to be put out of service and an enormous expense to the company. The usual reason was cabin crew being distracted, maybe chatting to colleagues or pax, and so failure to adhere to procedures. One of the things that the company was very hard on us during annual recurrent tests.
The outside handle disarms the door so, in theory, it is impossible to deploy the slide from outside. Every inadvertent slide deployment is due to the door being opened from the inside without disarming. Ie. Doors to manua,.
@@MercFE8235 correct. On 737s, “classics” at least, a “Girt Bar” is engaged at the floor, well below normal eye-level inside, and completely invisible outside, which pulls the deployment mechanism as the door swings outwards. This is why ground personnel must look into the porthole and observe that a safety indicator flag has been put across the window before opening.
You're a fantastic teacher. Be a Pilot is one thing but transmitting your knowledge as you do is very hard. Be safe we are in the US waiting for the next video. Thanks
@@avi8err829 I'm 55 and worked for a company who converted aircraft as well as "strip and park" work. I also flew for the former Midwest Express/Midwest (MidEx) Airlines based in Milwaukee years ago.
With the efficiency obsession of airlines, saving every gram they can, I am surprised an empty airliner cannot reach infinite speed and take off slightly backwards VTOL-style if you give full throttle.
@@Dowlphin In one of the books I read about the development of Concorde, they had a report of one of the afterburners not lighting properly under some condition. They tried to replicate, didn't have time to refuel before the test flight, had the engines in emergency contingency mode and did an almost empty, max power takeoff. I think they were in Bahrain, the tower nearly went ape because the plane had a thrust to weight ratio of nearly 1 and it was climbing faster than their fighters would have been able to.
Mentour Pilot--Just an aside here. My 3 1/2 year old granddaughter heard "ferry flight". She thought you said "fairy flight". She wanted to know why fairies need to fly on a plane and can she fly on your plane with them. My daughter had to leave the room to laugh. I'm writing this so she will think I'm contacting you for the next "fairy flight" for her. Being a grandma is so much more fun than being a mama was.
Tell her that I would love to do a fairy flight with her. The fairies can be tricky passengers though as they tend to fly around and ignore the “fasten seatbelt sign” 🧚♀️
@@MentourPilot--Oh, thank you. That is so very kind of you. I told her what you said and I apprised her that flights are cancelled during the COVID-19 crisis. so, we'll have to wait to schedule. By the time flights are resuming, sir, she'll have moved on to other things. Thank you again.
When we finally reached New York City, after driving from Alabama in the 1950s, my young sister, 6, was very disappointed that the "fairy" to Staten Island was a ferry.
I recall some years ago as cabin crew, on a LHR TO ABV. Because of a security threat at ABV we had to fly on empty to LOS. Crewing on the short link from ABV to LOS in a 777-200 with absolutely no pax on board was a surreal experience. Even leaving the flight deck door open seemed weird. Happy memories. Now retired.
I remember back in the seventies I was one of eight passengers on an l-1011 it was great. they brought everybody up to First Class I was wearing my Navy uniform then all the drinks were on the house flew from Chicago to Miami that was a great flight
Hi Mentour! Many years ago, a serious incident happened to our Flight Safety Pilot (!). He was used to fly Caravelle. He was to ferry a 737-200 from SN Technics to ELLX, so really very light Upon taking off, he was surprised by the acceleration of the aircraft that had such a high speed that the slats could not be retracted. The consequence of this mishap was that the attachments were slightly damaged. Have a nice day, take care and stay healthy. PS: thanks a lot for the very very interesting vlogs.
I flew an FR738 two weeks ago. Just myself and one other passenger. Had to load 40 kg of bags of stones to the front cargo to get inside weight/balance limits.
Mentour! After years of avoiding travelling abroad due to my fear of flying I am now looking at foreign holidays! Thank you for explaining everything I now feel a little less scared!
One lifetime ago I flew a Meridiana flight in Italy and was one of three passengers. I remember the experience, akin to an amusement park ride. The climb angle was much more than 20°, more like 30°, and a lot of fun with unusual acceleration. Since the low-cost airlines, I didn't flew anymore on empty civilian airliners. Thank you for the explanatory video. I don't plan to become an airliner pilot (I'm retired), but I find very nice learning about the intricacies of the job. Again, thanks
A couple months ago I sat next to a pilot who had flown an empty A320 from Salt Lake City to Chicago that was empty. Apparently the A320 had undergone some unscheduled MX at SLC and was needed in Chicago the next day. I asked him what it was like to fly an empty plane and he pretty much described many of the things you mentioned in this video. It was quite entertaining.
I remember about 15 years ago talking to the captain of our flight back from Mexico prior to boarding. The plane was full, and it was a long flight, so heavy load. I asked how much difference weight made to handling a plane of this size, he said the worse was flying an empty plane. He said he once flew an empty plane with little fuel onboard from I think Luton to Liverpool and it was, "Bouncing all over the sky."
An empty Aircraft is Amazing. I was once on the Jumpseat in an Empty, Rolls Royce powered 757. It was the return from a Business Trip. My Charter flight in Falcon 900 had a Problem and the Airline Asked if it was ok if I was to fly with a Ferry flight of one of their aircraft. That aircraft was an Empty 757-200 and the pilots asked If i wanted to go in the jumpseat. It was a 2.5 hour flight so the 757 was empty and had low fuel. The 757 Has the best power to weight of any airliner still in Service. Only the Concorde, the 777 with the GE90 and a few business Jets are better or come close. The pilots had fun! I suspect they also enjoyed giving a show. They started on full power and climbed super agressively. I was amazed how fast a massive Airliner can move. I was totally gobsmacked. I have experienced business Jets climbing aggressively and accelerating while climbing but seeing an airliner with a 60 ton empty weight do that.... wow
I learned to fly a glider, and after getting used to flying with an instructor, I noticed the difference when I was sent solo. Much lighter. It was a K7 two seat training glider. I really did enjoy it.
Sir is a glider the one they tow behind another Plane and then let it go ? and how does it get back to the Airport ? does it drift back ? i never been in a plane before only once when i was 12 years old on a airliner . well my mom and dad took us to Florida . but i saw a glider being towed behind another Plane .
I notice a difference in handling my Camry Hybrid when there is a full load of passengers and even when there are no passengers, but a trunk full of cargo. I can only imagine how much more a pilot would notice the difference in handling a fully loaded and an empty plane.
I drive trucks for a living, and can have a wide variation of cargo weights. The extreme case for me is about 40 000 pounds empty, up to 140 000 pounds fully loaded. Acceleration, braking, cornering, and general ride are hugely different.
@--That brings back memories!! The first brand new car I ever bought (doesn't count the cars that my father fixed up for me to drive in my teen years and early adulthood) was an AMC Gremlin. In my hot honey days, I only weighed about 92 pounds. I had to put cinderblocks over the wheel wells in side the car to have some stability driving it.
The "Do everything as normal" is such a lesson for daily life too. Have a self locking door -> bring keys even if someone is still inside. No cars around -> use the indicator when truning.
Maintaining balance is one thing... lower mass load leads to dramatically lower polar moment of inertia, as well as lower overall weight, much different response than a heavy airframe. Interesting to learn about all the 'small stuff' with doors and trolly.
When I was in General Aviation we lost a customer, a great guy who ran a pottery business but was a new pilot. He had his C-172 loaded with pottery in the back when he learned about density altitude 75 feet above the ground on approach - he stalled at a higher speed than he expected and the tail dropped. Many times when we did a significant change in avionics the existing weight & balance was too far from reality to use; I had to go back to stock values and figure all the existing equipment in. It sometimes took me an extra hour or two but I didn't want any part of a tragedy.
@@PatKittle she just wanted to write something that sounds erudite. I don't think she's able to explain it, probably she copy/pasted from wikipedia or something
It's a bit like the difference between driving a full double-decker bus and an empty one. Rule no 1 - DON'T slam on the brakes which you realise whilst peeling your nose off the windscreen.... Excellent video, thanks for that.
Hi from Singapore. Your videos are very informative and educational! It answered alot of "why's" I have when it comes to the airline industry! Thank you Mentour
Thank you mentour for your ongoing content in these tough times! I hope your doing absolutely fantastic. Love your channel I can't tell you how grateful I am to have you awesome aviation RUclipsrs to up your content for us. Be safe and many thanks.
Missed a flight once in Australia. They put us on an empty plane that was ferrying to the same city. We got to sit in first class, got free champaign and chocolate chip cookies, and got to sit in the cockpit behind the pilot for a while. Sorry, it was 30 years ago and I don't recall what kind of jumbo jet it was or even if it was Qantas or not. But it sure was a great adventure!
Yes indeed "stay safe"! You too, especially there in Spain! Thanks for keep posting videos captain, it helps fight the monotony of home isolation. Keep well!
Such a knowledgeable & dedicated pilot you are.. Your videos are so interesting.I am only an aviation enthusiast who have loved planes all my life, so much so that when working in London UK as a cook at London's Dorchester Hotel(1971-74) I would pop out on the Underground to LHR airport all day long from 9am to 10pm any chance I got to watch planes. Only on one occasion in 2015 I was invited in to visit the cockpit of an Air Transat A 310 at DUB airport after having arrived in my native country from YUL airport. I was really privileged to get such an honour. The stewardesses obviously spoke of my desire to the two pilots & they gladly offered me the occasion. You pilots are such wonderful people, highly skilled to fly such sophisticated machines. MentourPilot, you have great videos and I watch then continuously. Thank for educating the aviation enthusiasts. 👍 ✈️
Very interesting again Petter. You mentioned things that I wouldn't have thought off. Is for the slides many years ago when I worked in catering, I opened the door from the inside of a South African 747sp and the door was still armed. It knocked the top of the truck underneath off. Obviously I got into trouble but so did the cabin crew as the doors should have been switched to manual. The poor driver of the truck underneath was on tablets for year's. Lol
When I was a student pilot in a Cessna 152, my CFI surprised me by climbing out of the plane after a landing with a full stop. He informed me I was ready for my first solo. My bit of nervous excitement was not helped by the fact that the tiny plane was now more than 10% lighter, and responded to control inputs quite differently.
Always interesting stuff. In your episode on empty 737, there was a big emphasis on usual procedures and routine check lists. This is what has contributed to a great improvement in hospital safety in the last 20 years or so, particularly in the OR. We have learned so much from the airline and auto industry over these years. Dr Jim Kennedy.
That's a really useful comment, Jim. I work in road transport and manage a small bus fleet. We have employed many disciplines from the aviation sector, such as investigating every break down to see why, what happened and what we can do to avoid a repeat (often replacing parts on the whole fleet as a precaution). The result was that whilst our maintenance bill went through the roof to start with, it is now lower per year than before and almost 100% breakdown free.
You are just the greatest pilot ! Your videos are so educational and informative. After viewing many of them , I will never be a nervous flyer again. Love your dogs, too, and when you put titles above them it is so entertaining...and absolutely fantastic ! Love that Patchy !
Funny story: We once had a ferry flight coming in and the pilots just forgot they now had to open the doors as well. Pax bridge, chocks, GPU all were in place so we knocked and signaled it's safe to open and nothing happened. Tried again, nothing. That's when the pilots sounded the horn and asked what's wrong. We all (including them) had a good laugh at that. But in general the cabin crew is way faster at opening and closing doors than the cockpit in my experience.
I’ve worked a ferry flight and they are great. No pax = no service. lol Plus no jump seat required. 😀 but like you said, there is a procedure to be followed, we still have a full preflight, door arming / disarming procedures, and debriefing. Love your channel!
You need to view it in a bit more positive note! If the galley cart comes into the cockpit, it is free food... In the 737 this usually happens when you start to see the "Buffet alert", it is a new feature from Boeing for ferry flights :D
I realize I’m late to the conversation-But this reminds me of my very first flight on any kind of aircraft, and it was general aviation. (I was maybe 13.) The whole point of the exercise was that the pilot was moving from a two seats to six (I think it was a Cherokee, but this was a very long time ago). My mother and I and two mutual friends had been recruited to fill the other four seats so that the pilot could learn the differences between a full and an empty aircraft. (That first touch-and-go landing was bumpy.) Your aircraft is much bigger, but I now realize some of the issues are the same and understand better.
2:35 I was on a flight from LHR to DFW when we encountered severe turbulence. The trolleys were not secured. We rolled right, trolleys slid out from the galley, then pitched up and they rolled back down the aisle. Scary...
12:21 Dog behind the sofa - "Thats is really high" Am I the only one who noticed that? That doggy is going to become a really good pilot if he continues to pay attention. :)
I watched one of your chats with some americans I follow and learned you are not so far from where I live in relative terms. I wish you are enjoying living here. I've got many swedish friends and they are lovely I must say. I learned to fly at Top Fly at LELL. We used C172s and I still remember my first solo take off it felt so light I can't imagine a 737.
With nobody in the cabin you should leave the cockpit door open for continuous smoke and fire monitoring. Going back every hour is statistically of little value. Inflight fires have to be conquered in just a few minutes.
Pitch isn't attitude. You don't want unusual attitude because you don't want to stall. Though, I'm not sure what kind of pitch you'd need with an empty aircraft. They can climb almost vertical. But that's not what anyone wants.
Once about 15 years ago 3 of us went on holiday to turkey. When we flew home there was only the 3 of us and a couple of cabin crew on the whole plane. There was nothing unusual about the flight but it was nice being able to lay across all the seats.
I noticed this myself on a 737-700 flying in the states from FLL to STL last week (SW Airlines still flying limited service here). There was about 20 aboard including crew instead of 160 passengers. The takeoff roll was at least a third shorter and visually looked slower (~135 or 140 MPH instead of the usual 165 to 170). Then came the quick rotation and 20 degree climb. It was actually quite impressive. Clearly a derated takeoff like you mentioned. I fly frequently and have never seen an empty plane (outside of an empty flight from ATLANTA to Bermuda in 2010 with a hurricane bearing down on the tiny island). The descent also appeared much slower, as if the pilot had to "push" the plane down harder to get it to sink.
@@MentourPilot You should ask Ryanair to add "ferry pilot applause" to the sound system so you can play a little tribute to yourselves upon landing! It could also remind you of your cabin duties so could be justified as a cheap safety measure!
I flew pretty much throughout the Spring/Summer of 2020, and while I realized it was terrible for revenue, as a passenger, I loved it. Entire row to myself most of the time, often in front and behind. But the planes were never 'really' empty on my flights, just sparse. My main carrier is SW, and even though I have status for boarding, I'd just head toward the back (who cares when there's no one on board or when I've checked a bag), and have forever to sort stuff and position myself. Now every plane is full.
I have an INOP sweatshirt just like his tee-shirt, and it is terrific. I live ~3 miles west of an airport in the Midwest U.S. that has a large volume of freight dog flights and a moderate amount of passenger flights. The past few days, the passenger flights on climb out seem to have been climbing quicker than usual. This video gives an excellent explanation of why; they are a lot lighter than normal operations. The freight aircraft seem to climb and descent as normal from the viewpoint of me of standing on the ground. Nice explanation and thank you.
It is not that difficult as this maneuver is not very stressful on the structure and everything else. You can propably fly it with passengers too. But should not.
When they were parking the 727s back in the '90s, we got most of them with the number 3 engines broomsticked, meaning that it was a bad engine on the pylon with broomsticks in the blades to keep it from windmilling. Some of them eventually went back into service.
"Walking through an empty airliner is an eery feeling... but also kinda cool!" A bit liking walking through an empty city then... and trust me I know what that's like by now -.-
@@thomasm1964--There are two versions of a movie, entitled "On the Beach". The book, by Neville Shute, was written during the cold war of the mid-20th century. The first version, black and white, is told from the American point of view; the second, in color, is told more from the Australian point of view. In both versions, the final scenes are of an Earth devoid of people. I saw the Gregory Peck version when I was about 13 and the Armand Assante version just a few years ago. Both endings haunt me still, and I NEVER thought I'd see ANYTHING even close to it in my lifetime.
Had that feeling in Christchurch, NZ in the years after the earthquake. Whole suburbs of houses that survived the quake with non-obvious but significant damage - just a few cracks and jammed doors etc, caused by settlement of the foundations, but the area 'red-zoned' as unsuitable for rebuilding. Like walking through a western-movie ghost town. And a couple of years later, houses had been removed, the area grassed, all the garden plants and trees left in place, it was an even weirder feeling for anyone who knew what it used to be like - all the subdivisional roads are still there, but no buildings, just like a giant park. You can still see it on Google Maps - in some places Satellite View shows the new open grassed areas while Streetview still shows the houses...
@@cr10001 To be fair I could SO get used to this. Almost no people, no cars, no trains, no planes... if only someone could invent a way to teleport food into the supermarket shelf...
Allí your clips are really great... Help me extremely to calm down my anxiety before every flight, although lots of them are about accidents.... And, i'm a huge fan if your two dogs... They are just gorgeous.... Waiting for the next video! (I'm not a pilot, just a passenger...)
I believe you missed out on the most important aspect Pilots who are going to fly empty and who have never made tea/coffee or warmed their food in the galley, Should learn to do so before flying. Last thing you want to do is try to figure out how the galley needs to be operated when you are 20000 ft above. Imagine flying without hot tea or coffee. 😂
I want to tell you that your videos are almost on daily basis part of spending time in isolation. Thanks for them. Interesting information presented very naturally. Pls. add some more funny comments of your dogs during your explanations :)
Thanks Peter.. little but significant diferencies with a "normal flight", and for us as aerodrome air traffic controllers notice the fact that almost empty airliners make a shortest landing roll, and take a little bit more of time to vacate than normal, seen very much this days!! Hope soon all of you guys will be back, also for us is aukward and boring an airport with no airplanes, we just beat the 350 dayli ops a day past december, now there are not more than 100 at my airport (MMMY Monterrey, México)
Inertial dampening? There is a physics rule that a lot of people forget about or do not think about. When you have a full load .. the mass will be hard to get up to speed but will be harder to stop and also travels more before slowing down.. this is why rollercoasters run tests with water dummies.
Hi Captain, thanks a lot for all your videos and for keeping us entertained during this difficult times, your work is awesome. You have a minor mistake on this video, at 4:32 you mention L1 and L2, instead of L1 and R1, as the small fingers are pointing out on the video. Keep it up, you are an amazing instructor!
I've been passenger on an almost empty Boeing 787 'Dreamliner' back in 2018 :) couldn't have been more than 10-15 passengers on board from what I counted going onboard and off. But It was really great, it felt really fast at takeoff, but flight was smooth as silk. It was a Oslo to Barcelona morning flight, so very nice flight. Great view.
Great videos as always! 👏👏 You should seriously consider getting verified considering the amount of great aviation content you've been posting over the years. Personally I've learnt a lot
The importance of checking those galley carts are properly stowed cannot be overstated. I was on an overseas flight from a popular Pacific island in a Boeing 777, seated in the forward cabin. The pilot pushed back from the gate and proceeded to taxi toward the runway without announcing anything to the crew. Not even chimes. I was watching the galley attendant continue putting linen and other items away while not paying attention that one of the carts was not locked or secured in any fashion. It turns out this was a 140 kilo (310 Lb) beverage cart. I saw our turn onto the active runway through the window - still no advisory to the crew. All of a sudden the PIC applied full thrust for takeoff. The crew member ran to his jumpseat leaving the galley unsecured. Items fell out of open cabinets but my eyes were trained on that unsecured cart. 31 seconds later, that 777 went into a steep climb and that cart took off through the galley and straight down the middle of the starboard isle. I made a split second decision to stop the cart with my foot/leg. I took the full impact and stopped the cart before it could enter the main cabin which would have cause great damage to the aft cabin or killed or maimed a passenger. I had no idea how much this cart weighed. I’m permanently disabled because of it but I would do it again if I had to. The airline by the way didn’t even apologize. The crew did but not the airline. The pilot in command told me, as I was being taken out in a wheelchair, that I was stupid and should have minded my own business!!!
Why do I highly doubt this is a true story? You must've sued ,everyone is sue lawsuit happy! I have trouble believing what the pilot said to you supposedly.
David T: this happened as the merger of two large airlines was taking place. The dissolved airlines crews were being geographically disbursed to other hubs and the surviving airlines crews were angry and bitter that they had to take over these long flights to less popular locations. How the passengers were treated in the first year or two is another story but this story is true. And I did try to sue by the way. Ever try to go up against a company or individual with virtually unlimited resources? It usually doesn’t end well for the plaintiff.
Why should the airline apologize? You were the one who put yourself and possibly others into harms way and caused your own injury. Hopefully, you're receiving all of the medical attention you require.
@@gailpeterson3747 they were injured because the cabin crew failed to secure the cart as procedure and actually prevented the possibility of anyone else getting injured as the cart would have only continued to increase in speed the further it traveled. Not sure what you're going off about.
Love the T-shirt. I may have to order one. (See my screen name and there is a reason for it). It's probably been over 20 years ago but I can remember fueling a Northwest Airlines charter for the NFL team The Tennessee Titans that had just dropped off the team in Nashville and were ferrying the aircraft from KBNA back to KMEM. It was a 757 which has a high thrust to weight ratio and when I turned in the fuel slip, the pilot told me to make sure that I was watching when they took off and asked me to inform the rest of the ground crew. I was really not prepared for what I was about to witness. It may as well as been a fighter jet asking for a high-performance takeoff with an unrestricted climb. The take-off was literally almost vertical. Would have loved to have been on board when that happened. Wish we smartphone back then and I could have gotten a video of it. The only people on board were the pilots and the FA's and it was only a 25 minute flight from Nashville to Memphis so the aircraft was very light. I have told this story to a retired Fedex pilot who used fly MD-11s and he told me that when ferrying the MD-11 aircraft that they would have to start leveling off a couple of thousand feet before their final altitude just so they didn't bust through that flight level. He said the MD-11 when empty was like a rocket.
I worked for AA when they had the MD-11, every Sunday I would go ORD-DFW, this was a repo flight so mostly employees, this bird gained altitude faster than the space shuttle, we would average about 50 passengers. Ohh what a ride. I miss the old birds they had character, all new planes look alike
I look forward to fuller airplanes. Since American dispatchers do the fuel planning, we have to do the manual weight and balance forms too. My dispatch office has been going through so many forms because our e175s and crj7s need ballast fuel/ballast bags if they don’t have passengers (or only have a few). It takes so much more time to flight plan and it takes the pilots more time to do their preflight checks. We are canceling most of our empty or low booked flights and trying to prevent the need for repositioning flights. I’m used to planning like 30-50 flights a 10 hour shift. Now I’m down to 10-15 if even higher than 10. But I haven’t lost hours yet... 😑 I’m just bored.
I have a question about "speed" and "(almost) empty planes", so I'm glad about this video :) ! Thanks for the explanations about the plane's reactions during taxi or climbing, but what about cruise speed ? Is it different than on a heavily loaded plane ? Silly question but I'm asking cause my brother flew from Seattle to Heathrow yesterday, and intuitively, he said that "the plane had flown faster because it was almost empty" (30 passengers in a B787, how sad !). It took indeed around 8 hours, instead of 8h40 these last few weeks (in average, sort of). I'm probably wrong but I'm skeptical about the plane flying faster during cruise, because of its weight. Doesn't it depend mostly on the wind, and other criteria ? There are supposed to be speed limits, right ? And what about fuel cost ? Maybe, still intuitively, phases such as taxi or approach are more likely to be quicker than usual, since there's less traffic these days. And maybe some routes are slightly modified ? But, is it possible to be 40 minutes early only because of weight ?...
North Atlantic crossings have to maintain an assigned fixed speed over the ocean (though there's currently a trial program where some flights are allowed to operate at their own desired speed). But SEA-LHR has less than 1/3 of its route over the Atlantic as it flies over Canada and southern Greenland. But in general, yes, a lighter plane will fly faster (have a higher airspeed) for the same amount of thrust. The wind will alter the plane's progress over the ground though the airspeed is not changed. To oversimplify a lot: A plane with a 250kn airspeed and a 100kn tailwind will total about 350kn over the ground, and with a 100kn headwind will do about 150kn. But the airspeed is still 250kn either way. The same amount of thrust applied to get 250kn airspeed in a full plane might give (for example) 300kn in a lighter plane. That gives a corresponding increase in groundspeed, whatever the winds are doing.
Back in 1999 I flew from New Jersey to Ohio on a 737. We were 5 passengers onboard, so the flight attendants told us to sit where ever we wanted. I was an amazing take off.. :)
Just in case of an emergency situation after take off for an empty aircraft, do you still need to dump fuel before landing since it is not that heavy already ?
I don't think a 737 as fuel dump, I'm no pilot but wouldn't think even a heavy would have to dump either but guess it would depend on the emergency situation e.g low brake effort maybe they would.
No B737 has a fuel jettison system. Thus would either hold to burn off fuel or land overweight. The same is true for other narrow bodied aircraft such as the B757, A320, md80. It's an option on wide bodies such as the B767, A330 and A350. Only aircraft like the B747 and A380 have it as standard. Unsure if it's standard on the B777 or not.
We flew on an America West shuttle flight back to Pheonix with just the six of us and the flight crew. My cousin worked for America West at the time and we were booked on as family members. It was really weird and strangely noisy without all the people on board but we did get amazing in flight service as the stewards and stewardesses were sitting not far from us 🙂
@ you ever seen or smelled lutefisk? It doesn't smell at all. Lutefisk you get served in most restaurants befor Christmas, but it doesn't smell. In opposit to surstrømning and durian. I know the last smell very well, as I am married to a thai, and she loves that fruit. In Trondheim, a major city here in Norway, the fire department spend more than one hoyr trying to find a gas-leak. It clearly smelled gas all over the area. But after looking for more than one hour, they realized there was no gas-leak. The smell came from a shop which sold durian.... :D
Come by and say hello on my website www.mentourpilot.com
Hello Mentour Pilot hope you are fine
the website has a typo it says POWERWED BY at the bottom
I've been on several Boeing 737-700 800 and 900 with very few people onboard in the last 5 flights 26, 40, 25 15 20 and 22 hardly any passenger count at all. I have noticed the rapid accent rate of these aircraft and the short time taxi times... been interesting flying lately as well as very different characteristics also less power to keep in flight
Do they rotate pilots around whom do these ferry flights these days in order to try to keep pilots fresh like yourself whom have otherwise been grounded, or how does that work?
I’m great
The emphasis you put on making sure the emergency slides are disarmed makes me think there's a story to tell... :)
Inadvertent slide deployment after chocks on, wasn’t such an unusual occurrence when I was cabin crew. Aside from the obvious danger to anyone outside the doors, it also caused the a/c to be put out of service and an enormous expense to the company. The usual reason was cabin crew being distracted, maybe chatting to colleagues or pax, and so failure to adhere to procedures. One of the things that the company was very hard on us during annual recurrent tests.
The outside handle disarms the door so, in theory, it is impossible to deploy the slide from outside. Every inadvertent slide deployment is due to the door being opened from the inside without disarming. Ie. Doors to manua,.
@@bobrice3957 That isn't true for a 737, which he flies. 737 slides are only a manual system, from inside the door.
When our company got new 175s maintenance and crew would blow slides I would not say often, but often enough that we knew about it.
@@MercFE8235 correct. On 737s, “classics” at least, a “Girt Bar” is engaged at the floor, well below normal eye-level inside, and completely invisible outside, which pulls the deployment mechanism as the door swings outwards. This is why ground personnel must look into the porthole and observe that a safety indicator flag has been put across the window before opening.
Just wanted to say those dogs are adorable...I’m amazed that they dozed off during his talk. Great episode as always. Thank you!
I was in a 737 with only about 3 passengers. The plane took off like a rocket. Seemed straight up and I was pressed into the seat. It was great.
Richard 1 I had same experience; only 30 people on brand new 757; thought we were on a NASA flight!
@@izziebon The single isle 757 was always quick off the mark. A pilots dream!
@@geoffphuketInPhuket The 757 is a muscle plane. 💪🏻
@@Eternal_Tech Not many left in service, now. I used to fly regularly from Manchester (UK) to Thailand with Monarch, many years ago.
Flew on a CRJ from Birmingham to Copenhagen. Thing was in the air before you knew it.
You're a fantastic teacher. Be a Pilot is one thing but transmitting your knowledge as you do is very hard. Be safe we are in the US waiting for the next video. Thanks
I've ferried a number of MD's empty. Climb performance is akin to some fighters!lol! Pitch to 30deg clean and no step climb necessary!
Haha nice! How old are you? and where did you have the chance to fly those beauties?
@@avi8err829 I'm 55 and worked for a company who converted aircraft as well as "strip and park" work. I also flew for the former Midwest Express/Midwest (MidEx) Airlines based in Milwaukee years ago.
With the efficiency obsession of airlines, saving every gram they can, I am surprised an empty airliner cannot reach infinite speed and take off slightly backwards VTOL-style if you give full throttle.
@@Dowlphin In one of the books I read about the development of Concorde, they had a report of one of the afterburners not lighting properly under some condition. They tried to replicate, didn't have time to refuel before the test flight, had the engines in emergency contingency mode and did an almost empty, max power takeoff. I think they were in Bahrain, the tower nearly went ape because the plane had a thrust to weight ratio of nearly 1 and it was climbing faster than their fighters would have been able to.
Mentour Pilot--Just an aside here. My 3 1/2 year old granddaughter heard "ferry flight". She thought you said "fairy flight". She wanted to know why fairies need to fly on a plane and can she fly on your plane with them. My daughter had to leave the room to laugh. I'm writing this so she will think I'm contacting you for the next "fairy flight" for her. Being a grandma is so much more fun than being a mama was.
Tell her that I would love to do a fairy flight with her. The fairies can be tricky passengers though as they tend to fly around and ignore the “fasten seatbelt sign” 🧚♀️
@@MentourPilot--Oh, thank you. That is so very kind of you. I told her what you said and I apprised her that flights are cancelled during the COVID-19 crisis. so, we'll have to wait to schedule. By the time flights are resuming, sir, she'll have moved on to other things. Thank you again.
haha! That is adorable!
Omg 😍 I heard fairy flight too and I thought it was really cool! 😍🤪❤
When we finally reached New York City, after driving from Alabama in the 1950s, my young sister, 6, was very disappointed that the "fairy" to Staten Island was a ferry.
I love the fact that your dogs are always with you. Any man who has dogs is alright by me.
Hitler had a dog
@@ahmetnumanduman8653 really, do have to go there
@@makarov718 only a fact 💅
I recall some years ago as cabin crew, on a LHR TO ABV. Because of a security threat at ABV we had to fly on empty to LOS. Crewing on the short link from ABV to LOS in a 777-200 with absolutely no pax on board was a surreal experience. Even leaving the flight deck door open seemed weird. Happy memories. Now retired.
I remember back in the seventies I was one of eight passengers on an l-1011 it was great. they brought everybody up to First Class I was wearing my Navy uniform then all the drinks were on the house flew from Chicago to Miami that was a great flight
Hi Mentour! Many years ago, a serious incident happened to our Flight Safety Pilot (!). He was used to fly Caravelle. He was to ferry a 737-200 from SN Technics to ELLX, so really very light Upon taking off, he was surprised by the acceleration of the aircraft that had such a high speed that the slats could not be retracted. The consequence of this mishap was that the attachments were slightly damaged. Have a nice day, take care and stay healthy. PS: thanks a lot for the very very interesting vlogs.
I flew an FR738 two weeks ago. Just myself and one other passenger. Had to load 40 kg of bags of stones to the front cargo to get inside weight/balance limits.
Yep! That’s what I meant by being careful when checking weight and balance
In aviation everything is certified and regulated... so were those stones certified for aviation too? :D
Literal ballast.
@@insoYT I would not be surprised if there is a certified manufacturer for these.
@@insoYT The bags would be of a stronger plastic than for building materials.
Yes on checking W&B. I recently had to carry 7 hours of fuel on a 1 hour flight just to make sure we were above the minimum weight at landing...
On the 727-200 we had to load a ballast pallet onto the 1st position, it couldn’t fly completely empty, being rear engined.
Mentour! After years of avoiding travelling abroad due to my fear of flying I am now looking at foreign holidays! Thank you for explaining everything I now feel a little less scared!
One lifetime ago I flew a Meridiana flight in Italy and was one of three passengers. I remember the experience, akin to an amusement park ride. The climb angle was much more than 20°, more like 30°, and a lot of fun with unusual acceleration.
Since the low-cost airlines, I didn't flew anymore on empty civilian airliners.
Thank you for the explanatory video. I don't plan to become an airliner pilot (I'm retired), but I find very nice learning about the intricacies of the job.
Again, thanks
A couple months ago I sat next to a pilot who had flown an empty A320 from Salt Lake City to Chicago that was empty. Apparently the A320 had undergone some unscheduled MX at SLC and was needed in Chicago the next day. I asked him what it was like to fly an empty plane and he pretty much described many of the things you mentioned in this video. It was quite entertaining.
I remember about 15 years ago talking to the captain of our flight back from Mexico prior to boarding. The plane was full, and it was a long flight, so heavy load. I asked how much difference weight made to handling a plane of this size, he said the worse was flying an empty plane. He said he once flew an empty plane with little fuel onboard from I think Luton to Liverpool and it was, "Bouncing all over the sky."
An empty Aircraft is Amazing. I was once on the Jumpseat in an Empty, Rolls Royce powered 757. It was the return from a Business Trip. My Charter flight in Falcon 900 had a Problem and the Airline Asked if it was ok if I was to fly with a Ferry flight of one of their aircraft. That aircraft was an Empty 757-200 and the pilots asked If i wanted to go in the jumpseat. It was a 2.5 hour flight so the 757 was empty and had low fuel. The 757 Has the best power to weight of any airliner still in Service. Only the Concorde, the 777 with the GE90 and a few business Jets are better or come close. The pilots had fun! I suspect they also enjoyed giving a show. They started on full power and climbed super agressively. I was amazed how fast a massive Airliner can move. I was totally gobsmacked. I have experienced business Jets climbing aggressively and accelerating while climbing but seeing an airliner with a 60 ton empty weight do that.... wow
I learned to fly a glider, and after getting used to flying with an instructor, I noticed the difference when I was sent solo. Much lighter. It was a K7 two seat training glider. I really did enjoy it.
Yep! And the difference is much bigger in an airliner
@@MentourPilot I would have thought it would be kinda similar
Same here. The glider felt very light on my first solo to the point it felt I had to push it down for landing.
Flying gliders is real flying..I did it in Washington, Sussex in mid 70s
Sir is a glider the one they tow behind another Plane and then let it go ? and how does it get back to the Airport ? does it drift back ? i never been in a plane before only once when i was 12 years old on a airliner . well my mom and dad took us to Florida . but i saw a glider being towed behind another Plane .
K-9 Security Captain Patxi recommends. “ This ......... couch is Really Comfy!!!! CJ
I notice a difference in handling my Camry Hybrid when there is a full load of passengers and even when there are no passengers, but a trunk full of cargo. I can only imagine how much more a pilot would notice the difference in handling a fully loaded and an empty plane.
Exactly!
I drive trucks for a living, and can have a wide variation of cargo weights. The extreme case for me is about 40 000 pounds empty, up to 140 000 pounds fully loaded. Acceleration, braking, cornering, and general ride are hugely different.
@@highlypolishedturd7947--"You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din." Kipling
One MercilessMing one nice thing is that nobody will be screaming in an empty aircraft lol
@--That brings back memories!! The first brand new car I ever bought (doesn't count the cars that my father fixed up for me to drive in my teen years and early adulthood) was an AMC Gremlin. In my hot honey days, I only weighed about 92 pounds. I had to put cinderblocks over the wheel wells in side the car to have some stability driving it.
The "Do everything as normal" is such a lesson for daily life too. Have a self locking door -> bring keys even if someone is still inside. No cars around -> use the indicator when truning.
Maintaining balance is one thing... lower mass load leads to dramatically lower polar moment of inertia, as well as lower overall weight, much different response than a heavy airframe. Interesting to learn about all the 'small stuff' with doors and trolly.
Indeed Jennifer! Glad you liked it!
When I was in General Aviation we lost a customer, a great guy who ran a pottery business but was a new pilot. He had his C-172 loaded with pottery in the back when he learned about density altitude 75 feet above the ground on approach - he stalled at a higher speed than he expected and the tail dropped.
Many times when we did a significant change in avionics the existing weight & balance was too far from reality to use; I had to go back to stock values and figure all the existing equipment in. It sometimes took me an extra hour or two but I didn't want any part of a tragedy.
What is a "polar moment of inertia"? Is that when you first see the bear?
@@PatKittle she just wanted to write something that sounds erudite. I don't think she's able to explain it, probably she copy/pasted from wikipedia or something
Whoever Makes That Couch Should Be A Sponsor. Dogs Love It!!!! ❤️✌️
Oh, they do!!
Mentour Pilot who does make it? I want one! I’m 6’4” looks like it has great depth for legs... not an economy seat that’s for sure
It's a bit like the difference between driving a full double-decker bus and an empty one. Rule no 1 - DON'T slam on the brakes which you realise whilst peeling your nose off the windscreen....
Excellent video, thanks for that.
Never thought that could be the reason for some of my more unpleasant rides around London: an aggressive/rushed driver in an empty bus.
Hi from Singapore. Your videos are very informative and educational! It answered alot of "why's" I have when it comes to the airline industry! Thank you Mentour
Thank you mentour for your ongoing content in these tough times! I hope your doing absolutely fantastic. Love your channel I can't tell you how grateful I am to have you awesome aviation RUclipsrs to up your content for us. Be safe and many thanks.
My heart is melting when i see your cute dogs 👍😊🥰
Missed a flight once in Australia. They put us on an empty plane that was ferrying to the same city. We got to sit in first class, got free champaign and chocolate chip cookies, and got to sit in the cockpit behind the pilot for a while. Sorry, it was 30 years ago and I don't recall what kind of jumbo jet it was or even if it was Qantas or not. But it sure was a great adventure!
you hit the jackpot that time!
Yerr right and your mum is married to Brad pitt
Yes indeed "stay safe"! You too, especially there in Spain!
Thanks for keep posting videos captain, it helps fight the monotony of home isolation.
Keep well!
He lives in Spain?
Another great illustration of the fact that everything in aviation is way more complex that you might think at first glance.
Such a knowledgeable & dedicated pilot you are.. Your videos are so interesting.I am only an aviation enthusiast who have loved planes all my life, so much so that when working in London UK as a cook at London's Dorchester Hotel(1971-74) I would pop out on the Underground to LHR airport all day long from 9am to 10pm any chance I got to watch planes. Only on one occasion in 2015 I was invited in to visit the cockpit of an Air Transat A 310 at DUB airport after having arrived in my native country from YUL airport. I was really privileged to get such an honour. The stewardesses obviously spoke of my desire to the two pilots & they gladly offered me the occasion. You pilots are such wonderful people, highly skilled to fly such sophisticated machines. MentourPilot, you have great videos and I watch then continuously. Thank for educating the aviation enthusiasts. 👍 ✈️
Very interesting again Petter. You mentioned things that I wouldn't have thought off. Is for the slides many years ago when I worked in catering, I opened the door from the inside of a South African 747sp and the door was still armed. It knocked the top of the truck underneath off. Obviously I got into trouble but so did the cabin crew as the doors should have been switched to manual. The poor driver of the truck underneath was on tablets for year's. Lol
@@r.h.8754 I have to admit it was an experience. But it's a warning to all to be careful.
When I was a student pilot in a Cessna 152, my CFI surprised me by climbing out of the plane after a landing with a full stop. He informed me I was ready for my first solo. My bit of nervous excitement was not helped by the fact that the tiny plane was now more than 10% lighter, and responded to control inputs quite differently.
Always interesting stuff. In your episode on empty 737, there was a big emphasis on usual procedures and routine check lists. This is what has contributed to a great improvement in hospital safety in the last 20 years or so, particularly in the OR. We have learned so much from the airline and auto industry over these years. Dr Jim Kennedy.
That's a really useful comment, Jim. I work in road transport and manage a small bus fleet. We have employed many disciplines from the aviation sector, such as investigating every break down to see why, what happened and what we can do to avoid a repeat (often replacing parts on the whole fleet as a precaution). The result was that whilst our maintenance bill went through the roof to start with, it is now lower per year than before and almost 100% breakdown free.
@@derekstuart5234 Very happy to hear this!
You are just the greatest pilot ! Your videos are so educational and informative. After viewing many of them , I will never be a nervous flyer again. Love your dogs, too, and when you put titles above them it is so entertaining...and absolutely fantastic ! Love that Patchy !
Funny story:
We once had a ferry flight coming in and the pilots just forgot they now had to open the doors as well. Pax bridge, chocks, GPU all were in place so we knocked and signaled it's safe to open and nothing happened. Tried again, nothing. That's when the pilots sounded the horn and asked what's wrong. We all (including them) had a good laugh at that. But in general the cabin crew is way faster at opening and closing doors than the cockpit in my experience.
Wow I didn't know aircrafts have horns XD
@@mushfiqamin Peter mentioned about the horn in another video and when it is used
I’ve worked a ferry flight and they are great. No pax = no service. lol Plus no jump seat required. 😀 but like you said, there is a procedure to be followed, we still have a full preflight, door arming / disarming procedures, and debriefing. Love your channel!
Love that your dogs were really zonked out. Guess they were not impressed.
I want I want to thank you, because all of these videos are really helping to play my flight simulator games better.
You need to view it in a bit more positive note! If the galley cart comes into the cockpit, it is free food...
In the 737 this usually happens when you start to see the "Buffet alert", it is a new feature from Boeing for ferry flights :D
Fascinating. I had NO IDEA of all the complexities of flying a commercial aircraft.
Had a "trolley incident" at my company during a ferry flight once🫢Had to replace the cockpit door, which thankfully was closed😆
Speedbird Did anybody check it, or did something go wrong despite the checks?
Matthew Hall They pilots most likely forgot to check the trolley latches🙄
imagine if the trolley pinned the door closed from outside.
Wanna Montana That would have been fun😆😂And well deserved🤭
I can imagine - over the radio - "Trolleys at 6 O'Clock" !
“Thats really good!” Excellent voice, clarity and explanations.
The Red and Green pillows remind us of navigation lights on airplanes.
Intentional?
I realize I’m late to the conversation-But this reminds me of my very first flight on any kind of aircraft, and it was general aviation. (I was maybe 13.) The whole point of the exercise was that the pilot was moving from a two seats to six (I think it was a Cherokee, but this was a very long time ago). My mother and I and two mutual friends had been recruited to fill the other four seats so that the pilot could learn the differences between a full and an empty aircraft. (That first touch-and-go landing was bumpy.)
Your aircraft is much bigger, but I now realize some of the issues are the same and understand better.
2:35 I was on a flight from LHR to DFW when we encountered severe turbulence. The trolleys were not secured. We rolled right, trolleys slid out from the galley, then pitched up and they rolled back down the aisle. Scary...
This guy is so good. 10/10...everyone loves your vids, Mentour!
12:21 Dog behind the sofa - "Thats is really high"
Am I the only one who noticed that? That doggy is going to become a really good pilot if he continues to pay attention. :)
I watched one of your chats with some americans I follow and learned you are not so far from where I live in relative terms. I wish you are enjoying living here. I've got many swedish friends and they are lovely I must say. I learned to fly at Top Fly at LELL. We used C172s and I still remember my first solo take off it felt so light I can't imagine a 737.
Impressive and informative, I appreciate you and all pilots for the skills and dedication to aviation.
Doors to manual. Very important. As for the flying it’s down to the physics. Great video.
Thank you!
That was fascinating. I wouldn't have thought of most of these differences!
Those dogs had me distracted during the whole video, they are amazing.
With nobody in the cabin you should leave the cockpit door open for continuous smoke and fire monitoring. Going back every hour is statistically of little value. Inflight fires have to be conquered in just a few minutes.
Wishing you all the best in these very hard times for all of us. Most of all, stay safe and thanks for your videos. Tom in NV
"It will climb at an enormous clime rate and you gonna have a very unusual attitude..." Sound like a good flight to me.
Sounds like EVERY Southwest Airlines flight. I swear it's a race to get to cruise for those guys.
@@201roadrage201 probably a lot of ex USAF guys working for them I bet.
I wonder if such pilots get the urge to chase a jet fighter ;)
Perfect chance to try out a few barrel rolls?
Pitch isn't attitude. You don't want unusual attitude because you don't want to stall. Though, I'm not sure what kind of pitch you'd need with an empty aircraft.
They can climb almost vertical. But that's not what anyone wants.
Once about 15 years ago 3 of us went on holiday to turkey. When we flew home there was only the 3 of us and a couple of cabin crew on the whole plane. There was nothing unusual about the flight but it was nice being able to lay across all the seats.
Empty plane?
Engines: "I feel the need, the need for SPEED!"
Also feel the need for Jet A
😕🛫
And trim and climate change.
You gotta wait 'til Christmas for that.
How about an empty cruise ship, no passengers, no food, no fuel.
I noticed this myself on a 737-700 flying in the states from FLL to STL last week (SW Airlines still flying limited service here). There was about 20 aboard including crew instead of 160 passengers.
The takeoff roll was at least a third shorter and visually looked slower (~135 or 140 MPH instead of the usual 165 to 170). Then came the quick rotation and 20 degree climb. It was actually quite impressive. Clearly a derated takeoff like you mentioned.
I fly frequently and have never seen an empty plane (outside of an empty flight from ATLANTA to Bermuda in 2010 with a hurricane bearing down on the tiny island). The descent also appeared much slower, as if the pilot had to "push" the plane down harder to get it to sink.
How to fly empty? Very sad😔. No one applauds after landing 😅.
Very little applauds... that’s true 😥
@@MentourPilot You should ask Ryanair to add "ferry pilot applause" to the sound system so you can play a little tribute to yourselves upon landing! It could also remind you of your cabin duties so could be justified as a cheap safety measure!
@@thomasm1964 LOL!
I flew pretty much throughout the Spring/Summer of 2020, and while I realized it was terrible for revenue, as a passenger, I loved it. Entire row to myself most of the time, often in front and behind. But the planes were never 'really' empty on my flights, just sparse. My main carrier is SW, and even though I have status for boarding, I'd just head toward the back (who cares when there's no one on board or when I've checked a bag), and have forever to sort stuff and position myself. Now every plane is full.
I have an INOP sweatshirt just like his tee-shirt, and it is terrific.
I live ~3 miles west of an airport in the Midwest U.S. that has a large volume of freight dog flights and a moderate amount of passenger flights. The past few days, the passenger flights on climb out seem to have been climbing quicker than usual. This video gives an excellent explanation of why; they are a lot lighter than normal operations. The freight aircraft seem to climb and descent as normal from the viewpoint of me of standing on the ground.
Nice explanation and thank you.
Memphis?
I always glad to watch your episodes mentor
I hope you will enjoy this one!
Thx, I learned a lot of things I would never of thought of during this video. Good informative info yet again. Cheers from Birmingham 👍🏻
I understand how they were able to do a barrel roll in the 707 (Maximum thrust + light as possible).
It is not that difficult as this maneuver is not very stressful on the structure and everything else. You can propably fly it with passengers too. But should not.
When they were parking the 727s back in the '90s, we got most of them with the number 3 engines broomsticked, meaning that it was a bad engine on the pylon with broomsticks in the blades to keep it from windmilling. Some of them eventually went back into service.
"Walking through an empty airliner is an eery feeling... but also kinda cool!"
A bit liking walking through an empty city then... and trust me I know what that's like by now -.-
Or driving through an empty countryside. My partner and I did a 100 mile round trip today through deserted rural landscapes. Very weird feeling.
I think most of us are knowing what it's like now. It's like everyone has gone to the Moon!
@@thomasm1964--There are two versions of a movie, entitled "On the Beach". The book, by Neville Shute, was written during the cold war of the mid-20th century. The first version, black and white, is told from the American point of view; the second, in color, is told more from the Australian point of view. In both versions, the final scenes are of an Earth devoid of people. I saw the Gregory Peck version when I was about 13 and the Armand Assante version just a few years ago. Both endings haunt me still, and I NEVER thought I'd see ANYTHING even close to it in my lifetime.
Had that feeling in Christchurch, NZ in the years after the earthquake. Whole suburbs of houses that survived the quake with non-obvious but significant damage - just a few cracks and jammed doors etc, caused by settlement of the foundations, but the area 'red-zoned' as unsuitable for rebuilding. Like walking through a western-movie ghost town.
And a couple of years later, houses had been removed, the area grassed, all the garden plants and trees left in place, it was an even weirder feeling for anyone who knew what it used to be like - all the subdivisional roads are still there, but no buildings, just like a giant park. You can still see it on Google Maps - in some places Satellite View shows the new open grassed areas while Streetview still shows the houses...
@@cr10001 To be fair I could SO get used to this. Almost no people, no cars, no trains, no planes... if only someone could invent a way to teleport food into the supermarket shelf...
Allí your clips are really great... Help me extremely to calm down my anxiety before every flight, although lots of them are about accidents....
And, i'm a huge fan if your two dogs... They are just gorgeous....
Waiting for the next video!
(I'm not a pilot, just a passenger...)
I believe you missed out on the most important aspect
Pilots who are going to fly empty and who have never made tea/coffee or warmed their food in the galley, Should learn to do so before flying.
Last thing you want to do is try to figure out how the galley needs to be operated when you are 20000 ft above.
Imagine flying without hot tea or coffee.
😂
I want to tell you that your videos are almost on daily basis part of spending time in isolation. Thanks for them. Interesting information presented very naturally. Pls. add some more funny comments of your dogs during your explanations :)
Yet another interesting aspect of flying airplanes, beautifully explained by Captain. Thanks !!!!
Thanks Peter.. little but significant diferencies with a "normal flight", and for us as aerodrome air traffic controllers notice the fact that almost empty airliners make a shortest landing roll, and take a little bit more of time to vacate than normal, seen very much this days!!
Hope soon all of you guys will be back, also for us is aukward and boring an airport with no airplanes, we just beat the 350 dayli ops a day past december, now there are not more than 100 at my airport (MMMY Monterrey, México)
Imagining a fun thing to do when flying empty...
- Talk to yourself on the intercom. 😄
This channel is a gold mine
Every morning when I get up, I check the toilet to make sure nobody has stowed themselves away. I hate that.
You look relaxed and refreshed.
Inertial dampening? There is a physics rule that a lot of people forget about or do not think about. When you have a full load .. the mass will be hard to get up to speed but will be harder to stop and also travels more before slowing down.. this is why rollercoasters run tests with water dummies.
Hi Captain, thanks a lot for all your videos and for keeping us entertained during this difficult times, your work is awesome. You have a minor mistake on this video, at 4:32 you mention L1 and L2, instead of L1 and R1, as the small fingers are pointing out on the video. Keep it up, you are an amazing instructor!
So "how to fly a Glider" Is what I saw LOL OK on to the show now.
As always I appreciate the dogs.
Seen clips of retired craft doing their final empty landing and stopping on a postage stamp - now I understand why, thank you \m/
Yeah way less momentum.
I've been passenger on an almost empty Boeing 787 'Dreamliner' back in 2018 :) couldn't have been more than 10-15 passengers on board from what I counted going onboard and off.
But It was really great, it felt really fast at takeoff, but flight was smooth as silk. It was a Oslo to Barcelona morning flight, so very nice flight. Great view.
Can the next one be "how to fly an empty and _haunted_ aircraft" - *_please_* _?!?_
Great videos as always! 👏👏 You should seriously consider getting verified considering the amount of great aviation content you've been posting over the years. Personally I've learnt a lot
The importance of checking those galley carts are properly stowed cannot be overstated. I was on an overseas flight from a popular Pacific island in a Boeing 777, seated in the forward cabin. The pilot pushed back from the gate and proceeded to taxi toward the runway without announcing anything to the crew. Not even chimes. I was watching the galley attendant continue putting linen and other items away while not paying attention that one of the carts was not locked or secured in any fashion. It turns out this was a 140 kilo (310 Lb) beverage cart. I saw our turn onto the active runway through the window - still no advisory to the crew. All of a sudden the PIC applied full thrust for takeoff. The crew member ran to his jumpseat leaving the galley unsecured. Items fell out of open cabinets but my eyes were trained on that unsecured cart. 31 seconds later, that 777 went into a steep climb and that cart took off through the galley and straight down the middle of the starboard isle. I made a split second decision to stop the cart with my foot/leg. I took the full impact and stopped the cart before it could enter the main cabin which would have cause great damage to the aft cabin or killed or maimed a passenger. I had no idea how much this cart weighed. I’m permanently disabled because of it but I would do it again if I had to.
The airline by the way didn’t even apologize. The crew did but not the airline. The pilot in command told me, as I was being taken out in a wheelchair, that I was stupid and should have minded my own business!!!
You my friend are a hero....
Why do I highly doubt this is a true story? You must've sued ,everyone is sue lawsuit happy! I have trouble believing what the pilot said to you supposedly.
David T: this happened as the merger of two large airlines was taking place. The dissolved airlines crews were being geographically disbursed to other hubs and the surviving airlines crews were angry and bitter that they had to take over these long flights to less popular locations. How the passengers were treated in the first year or two is another story but this story is true. And I did try to sue by the way. Ever try to go up against a company or individual with virtually unlimited resources? It usually doesn’t end well for the plaintiff.
Why should the airline apologize? You were the one who put yourself and possibly others into harms way and caused your own injury. Hopefully, you're receiving all of the medical attention you require.
@@gailpeterson3747 they were injured because the cabin crew failed to secure the cart as procedure and actually prevented the possibility of anyone else getting injured as the cart would have only continued to increase in speed the further it traveled. Not sure what you're going off about.
Love the T-shirt. I may have to order one. (See my screen name and there is a reason for it).
It's probably been over 20 years ago but I can remember fueling a Northwest Airlines charter for the NFL team The Tennessee Titans that had just dropped off the team in Nashville and were ferrying the aircraft from KBNA back to KMEM.
It was a 757 which has a high thrust to weight ratio and when I turned in the fuel slip, the pilot told me to make sure that I was watching when they took off and asked me to inform the rest of the ground crew. I was really not prepared for what I was about to witness. It may as well as been a fighter jet asking for a high-performance takeoff with an unrestricted climb. The take-off was literally almost vertical. Would have loved to have been on board when that happened. Wish we smartphone back then and I could have gotten a video of it. The only people on board were the pilots and the FA's and it was only a 25 minute flight from Nashville to Memphis so the aircraft was very light. I have told this story to a retired Fedex pilot who used fly MD-11s and he told me that when ferrying the MD-11 aircraft that they would have to start leveling off a couple of thousand feet before their final altitude just so they didn't bust through that flight level. He said the MD-11 when empty was like a rocket.
I worked for AA when they had the MD-11, every Sunday I would go ORD-DFW, this was a repo flight so mostly employees, this bird gained altitude faster than the space shuttle, we would average about 50 passengers. Ohh what a ride. I miss the old birds they had character, all new planes look alike
The proper answer to flying an empty airliner is: "Inverted!"
I seem to recall that a Boeing test pilot once did a barrel roll on a 707. He was told not to do that again :)
What the heck are you doing!!? - I'm selling the airplane.
When I watch your videos I get so exited to make a flight on flight simulator ....man I really enjoy this videos thanks!
I look forward to fuller airplanes. Since American dispatchers do the fuel planning, we have to do the manual weight and balance forms too. My dispatch office has been going through so many forms because our e175s and crj7s need ballast fuel/ballast bags if they don’t have passengers (or only have a few). It takes so much more time to flight plan and it takes the pilots more time to do their preflight checks.
We are canceling most of our empty or low booked flights and trying to prevent the need for repositioning flights.
I’m used to planning like 30-50 flights a 10 hour shift. Now I’m down to 10-15 if even higher than 10. But I haven’t lost hours yet... 😑 I’m just bored.
Congratulations to Mentour Pilot. Your videos have many interesting details. Greetings from Brazil.
"... smoke in the cockpit. You don't want that."
Love your dog :) Cool dude! You have a great channel, thanks a lot for all that information!!
I have a question about "speed" and "(almost) empty planes", so I'm glad about this video :) ! Thanks for the explanations about the plane's reactions during taxi or climbing, but what about cruise speed ? Is it different than on a heavily loaded plane ?
Silly question but I'm asking cause my brother flew from Seattle to Heathrow yesterday, and intuitively, he said that "the plane had flown faster because it was almost empty" (30 passengers in a B787, how sad !). It took indeed around 8 hours, instead of 8h40 these last few weeks (in average, sort of).
I'm probably wrong but I'm skeptical about the plane flying faster during cruise, because of its weight. Doesn't it depend mostly on the wind, and other criteria ? There are supposed to be speed limits, right ? And what about fuel cost ?
Maybe, still intuitively, phases such as taxi or approach are more likely to be quicker than usual, since there's less traffic these days. And maybe some routes are slightly modified ? But, is it possible to be 40 minutes early only because of weight ?...
🤔
North Atlantic crossings have to maintain an assigned fixed speed over the ocean (though there's currently a trial program where some flights are allowed to operate at their own desired speed). But SEA-LHR has less than 1/3 of its route over the Atlantic as it flies over Canada and southern Greenland. But in general, yes, a lighter plane will fly faster (have a higher airspeed) for the same amount of thrust. The wind will alter the plane's progress over the ground though the airspeed is not changed. To oversimplify a lot: A plane with a 250kn airspeed and a 100kn tailwind will total about 350kn over the ground, and with a 100kn headwind will do about 150kn. But the airspeed is still 250kn either way. The same amount of thrust applied to get 250kn airspeed in a full plane might give (for example) 300kn in a lighter plane. That gives a corresponding increase in groundspeed, whatever the winds are doing.
@@michaelhampton6388 This is very interesting, thank you very much for your explanation 👌!
Back in 1999 I flew from New Jersey to Ohio on a 737. We were 5 passengers onboard, so the flight attendants told us to sit where ever we wanted. I was an amazing take off.. :)
Just in case of an emergency situation after take off for an empty aircraft, do you still need to dump fuel before landing since it is not that heavy already ?
I don't think a 737 as fuel dump, I'm no pilot but wouldn't think even a heavy would have to dump either but guess it would depend on the emergency situation e.g low brake effort maybe they would.
No B737 has a fuel jettison system. Thus would either hold to burn off fuel or land overweight.
The same is true for other narrow bodied aircraft such as the B757, A320, md80.
It's an option on wide bodies such as the B767, A330 and A350.
Only aircraft like the B747 and A380 have it as standard. Unsure if it's standard on the B777 or not.
That's actually a great question! Sounds like flying a Concord (super tall, nose very high and super fast)
I have to ask, in an empty aircraft do you ever have a Tex Johnston moment and think what the hell lets see what she can do?
Some have tried that and paid a heavy price. Google "Pinnacle Airlines flight 3701"
We flew on an America West shuttle flight back to Pheonix with just the six of us and the flight crew. My cousin worked for America West at the time and we were booked on as family members. It was really weird and strangely noisy without all the people on board but we did get amazing in flight service as the stewards and stewardesses were sitting not far from us 🙂
Other possible answer: by leaving an opened can of SURSTRÖMMING on the flight deck. 😝
Oh my god, your are the devil. 😈😂
@ surströming evacuates the airplane, lutefisk is serveable in a restaurant
@ you ever seen or smelled lutefisk? It doesn't smell at all. Lutefisk you get served in most restaurants befor Christmas, but it doesn't smell. In opposit to surstrømning and durian. I know the last smell very well, as I am married to a thai, and she loves that fruit.
In Trondheim, a major city here in Norway, the fire department spend more than one hoyr trying to find a gas-leak. It clearly smelled gas all over the area. But after looking for more than one hour, they realized there was no gas-leak. The smell came from a shop which sold durian.... :D